


metanoia

by siliquastrum



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, No proof reading we die like mne, Part 1, Post-Chuunin Exams, Sparring, do not copy to another site, introspective, the awkward early stages of a friendship, these kids need ninja therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23531071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siliquastrum/pseuds/siliquastrum
Summary: Sakura's behaviour has changed.---met·a·noi·a/ˌmedəˈnoiə/nounchange in one’s mind, heart and way of life resulting from spiritual experience.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 22
Kudos: 60





	metanoia

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about all the lost potential of a friendship between these two, so I decided to write the tentative start.

met·a·noi·a

/ˌmedəˈnoiə/

_noun_

change in one’s mind, heart and way of life resulting from spiritual experience.

\---

Sasuke doesn’t want to admit it, but he enjoys the cat rescue missions: they’re a bit of a puzzle. Like the animals themselves, they need an unconventional approach. Plus, he’s a cat person, _sue him_.

Since their chuunin exams from hell, Kakashi’s been taking on D rank missions like this one. Sasuke knows it’s deliberate; they need a break. Maybe he’s still a genin, and maybe he’s nowhere close to his goal of hunting his brother down, but the encounter in the forest of death scared him more than he’s willing to admit. So he welcomes the reprieve of chasing down cats on trees, or through the village rooftops. It’s a semblance of normalcy he thought he’d forgotten long ago. 

Once the capricious feline in question - a chubby calico by the name of Filbert- is returned to his rightful owner, Sasuke expects the usual post mission dance to begin: Naruto will try to swindle Kakashi into buying them ramen at Ichiraku’s, Kakashi will disappear off to gods know where to do gods know what with his free time, Sakura will ask him to train as if its a date, Naruto will sulk and ask her to grab lunch with him as if its a date, all requests will be turned down, and they’ll go their separate ways. 

Except one of the dancers is out of synch: Naruto doesn’t try his puppy dog eye routine on Kakashi. 

“Iruka-sensei’s buying me lunch!” he says, almost giddy as he waves goodbye and skips away. 

Kakashi, predictably, leaves to be mysteriously mysterious. 

And Sasuke’s left alone with Sakura. 

“Train with me, Sasuke-kun”, she says. 

Sasuke huffs, shakes his head, and turns to walk away. 

“Before the exams you said that if I genuinely wanted to train with you, you wouldn’t say no,” she continues, “Did you mean that?” 

“Of course I meant it” 

“Sasuke,” 

This is the first time she’s said his name like this, serious, stripped of all honourifics. She automatically has all his attention. 

“Train with me. I’m serious about this.” 

Sasuke can tell by the way she’s holding her chin up a little higher, how her eyes dare him to say no, that she absolutely is. 

“Sure.” 

\---

They settle on taijutsu, taking turns with hitting and blocking. It’s just basics, hooks and jabs, the occasional kick, but Sasuke finds himself working up a sweat. Sakura’s faster than he anticipated, even though she still telegraphs her every move loud and clear. 

Back and forth back and forth until Sakura brings her knee up for a hit and Sasuke blocks it with both hands, only to be hit square in the face with a punch. The impact forces him to the ground and when he takes his hands away from his now throbbing nose he finds them covered in blood. 

“I’m sorry,” Sakura practically squeaks, kneeling down next to him to see the damage she caused. 

“ _Shit,_ Sakura,” Sasuke finds himself smiling, “are you hitting me full force?” 

“ _What?_ No,” she swats his hand away, “let me see that,” 

“It’s fine,” he mumbles, the sounds muffled and distorted by his still bleeding nose. 

“It doesn’t look broken,” Sakura tells him, “if it was I think Ino would kill me for ruining your pretty face.” 

Sasuke groans at the mention of Ino, “I wish it was...” 

“Should I punch you again?” _wait is she actually humouring me?_ Sasuke realises, and it’s accompanied with a surprising amount of joy. 

“Put me out of my misery,” he says and lies back on the grass.

Then Sakura laughs and joins him, and he can’t lie that he’s caught by surprise. She seems so much more comfortable around him than before. Something has changed: she carries herself different since the exam, and it's not just her new haircut to blame. She’s determined, with a newfound confidence. 

While they were sparring Sasuke noticed a fire in her eyes. He’d seen the sparks of it before here and there. It’s a fire he knows Sakura keeps quelling to maintain appearances: That of a proper young lady, with her soft spoken almost shy demeanour, and her obvious crush on the boy everyone expects of her. _A mask_ , he thinks. The same way Naruto acts like a fool to hide his true sadness, the same way Kakashi hides half his face and all his past, the same way Sasuke himself pretends to be unfazed and stoic, and calls himself an avenger to ignore the void of loss and grief building up inside him.

He doesn’t realise he’s been staring at Sakura for a bit too long. 

“What?” she frowns at him, “Did I hit you too much?” 

Sasuke shakes his head: both a no, and a means to dispel the thoughts clouding his mind. 

“You’re different,” he says, “Pre-haircut you is almost an entirely other person.” 

“Is that bad?” Sakura asks, frown still present. 

“No,” he says, “I think I like this Sakura better. Even if she did punch me in the face.” 

“Shut up,” she replies, a smile threatening to break through her frown. 

“What changed?” 

Then Sakura looks at him, really looks at him, and sighs, a sound he’s certain she picked up from their teacher. 

“In the forest, I couldn’t protect you or Naruto. I was helpless.” she pulls a fistful of grass from the ground and starts tearing at it, “And then again when the village was under attack: I was the weakest link. Gaara- no, that sand demon- aimed for me, knowing I’d put up less of a fight. You and Naruto saved me, while I sat there, useless, watching,” more grass is torn from the earth, “I couldn’t even win against Ino.” 

Sasuke frowns, but holds his thoughts, lets his friend to finish talking first. He’s still surprised that she’s opening up to him of all people, but he’s taking it in his stride.

“I don’t want to be the extra weight on the team anymore, the weak one, who needs protecting. I’m tired of being miles behind you and Naruto. Sure, everyone says you’re a prodigy, but if I work hard I can catch up and surpass both of you, Lee’s proof enough. I’m as much a ninja as anyone else in this village, I earned my headband,” she takes a deep breath, “so that’s what changed. I’ve promised myself one day I will be strong enough to protect both of you. One day you will be looking at _my_ back.” 

“I don’t doubt that for one second,” Sasuke replies, “after all, if it wasn’t for you, Naruto and I would be rotting away in the forest of death by now.”

 _Or worse_ , he thinks to himself, _little experiments for Orochimaru to play with._

“One day the entire village will be in awe of you, and I’ll be able to brag about how you used to have a crush on me,” he says, and Sakura throws the shredded grass at him with a half spoken ‘shut up, asshole.’ 

And as the two of them laugh together, Sasuke thinks he could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> I have ten billion works in progress yet finish this in less than a day. Who the fuck knows anymore.


End file.
